The Dark
by signedheart
Summary: Sophia Malfoy is a total sweetheart…but what happens when she steps into The Dark? - Sequel to The Thief.
1. Chapter 1

Sophia Malfoy was easily loved. She had anyone that met her wrapped around her finger from the moment she took her first breath. This went on from infantry, to childhood, and even as a teenager. She could get away with anything and never lost an argument. She could be talking you into whatever she wanted and still have you believing she was a perfect angel. The blonde curls and clear blue eyes did the trick. She also had this bright and bubbly personality, with quick wit to match.

* * *

"Mum! Guess what Daddy just taught me!" Sophia came barreling the kitchen door at the age of eight. Draco wasn't far behind, holding and old Nimbus 2001 in his hands behind his back. A wicked grin playing on his pale lips and a twinkle in those blue eyes, the color he shared with his daughter.

"You didn't." Hermione stated towards him, knowing very well that he put the little girl on a broom and high in the air. Quidditch was far too dangerous for a child. Draco smiled weakly and shrugged.

She grabbed onto her mother's waist. "It was fun! And it's so easy to fly! I can't wait to go to school and play on the team! I want to be a seeker just like Daddy." She smiled up at him.

He returned the smile with a look of pride before looking back to Hermione. "She's good, Mione. She has better broom control than most 3rd years. And don't worry, I didn't let her go that far off the ground."

Even though Hermione was a little apprehensive she knew Draco would never allow anything to harm their daughter. So with a well deserved sigh she waved her hand dismissively at the pair standing close to her. " Alright then, go on." Sophia hugged her mother tightly before grabbing Draco's hand and running out of the room toward the backyard. On his way out Draco shot a loving smile at Hermione before following the little girl outside where they picked up on their Quidditch lesson. She was almost catching the snitch before he could even believe it.

* * *

Sophia was quiet as she watched her mother cook. She watched her forearm specifically. Glancing up at her mother's face with a puzzled look now and then.

"Sophia? What are you scheming? You're never this quiet unless you're up to something." Hermione questioned her daughter who had been staring at her for the past fifteen minutes. The ten year old girl didn't cause much trouble, but she usually got like this when she wanted to know something. More specifically if she wanted permission for something usually.

"What does 'mudblood' mean?" Sophia blurted out, wide blue eyes trained on the faded scar on Hermione's arm.

Hermione stopped everything that she was doing and turned to look at Sophia fully. "You saw this?" She grabbed her arm, placing her palm over the slightly raised and paler skin. "Mudblood" had been carved into her arm by none other than Draco's aunt, Bellatrix. Sophia sat quietly at the table as she watched her mother get lost in her thoughts. Saw as her mother flinched at the memories playing in her mind. When she saw Hermione's eyes refocus onto her she simply nodded. Yes, she had seen it many times, always wondering what it was for and what it meant. Hermione uncovered the scar and looked down at it, sighing. "It means that I was born to muggle parents. Neither of my parents were wizards. 'Mudblood' is a bad word for that. Don't ever say it to anyone, it hurts a lot of people's feelings and is just mean."

Sophia nodded again. A moment of silence passed. "So...why do you have that there?" She pointed to her mother's arm.

"A Pureblood family hated anyone who wasn't pureblood. Someone put this word on me. It was a very bad time to be someone like me."

"Is Daddy a mud-...one of those?"

"A muggle born?" Hermione laughed despite the serious conversation, "No, he's a pureblood. He came from a family that was considered one of the best pureblood families." Under her breath she added, "but that depends on who you ask..."

"What about Daddy's mark on his arm? His tattoo?" Sophia questioned again. Hermione had expected that one, Draco didn't go through the trouble of covering it up. Other past deatheaters that had reformed had it removed. Draco never did. When Hermione questioned him about that in the past he simply stated that it was there to remind him of what he once was, reminding him to never make such horrible decisions again.

"That was a mark given to him when he was younger and allowed his father to run his life. He is not that way anymore. He's a good man now." Hermione sighed.

Sophia just nodded. "So what blood am I?" Sophia asked curiously. She always wanted to know how a story could relate to her. She didn't do this because she thought everything should involve her, but rather to try to understand things better.

"You're a half blood. But people have learned now that blood status is not what matters. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently. I've seen even the most stubborn haters of 'lesser blood' turn around." She was referencing her husband, but Sophia didn't know that. Speaking of him... "Can you go get your dad for dinner?"

"Well being a half blood then just means I've got the best of both worlds." Sophia replied to Hermione's earlier statement in a bubbly voice as she hopped off the chair she was sitting on and went to go find her dad. She always knew how to make the best out of any situation. Though what Hermione said about people learning that blood status wasn't important was only half true. While most wizards had done so, some had used the war as even more reason to hate the nonpurebloods. Unfortunately there were still dark wizards out there that lived among them.

* * *

A soft tapping was heard from the window in Sophia's bedroom. It was too early for Sophia to be awake, even on her birthday. The light shown in through the bay window with the window seat and glittered through all that sparkled in her room. Then it dawned on her what that tapping meant. She shot up like a bolt of lighting and quickly scrambled out of bed, dashing across the room to fling the window open rather unceremoniously. The large old snowy white owl dropped a piece of parchment before rubbing its head against Sophia's outstretched hand and then taking off in flight. She watched the bird fly away for a moment before she grabbed the paper, looked at the red, wax stamp, and ran down to her parents in the garden. "It's here!" She screamed, jumping into her mother's lap. "It's here, it's here!" She repeated excitedly.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other, both knowing what this meant. They were happy and proud, but also a little terrified of letting their baby girl go.

Sophia bounced up and down in excitement. "Read it, read it!" She pushed the letter into her father's hands.

Draco signed, but began to read the letter.

"Dear Ms. Malfoy"

He went on to read all the requires things for Hogwarts, explaining to Sophia where exactly they would buy such things, many of which Sophia had never heard of. He continued with the last bit of important information. "It says you may bring a pet. An owl, toad, or cat." He frowned. "It also says first years are not allowed to bring their own broom." He had forgotten that rule and knew Sophia would be upset.

Sophia frowned. "I can't play Quidditch?" She had been practicing really hard with high hopes of making the team.

"No, first years aren't allowed to play. But you'll be very prepared for when you can." Draco tried to soothe her.

Hermione stepped in. "You can get an owl though!" She smiled, knowing how Sophia loved to watch their own owl, Glyfly.

Sophia seemed to stop and think for a second. "Actually mum... Can I get a cat?"

"A cat? But an owl will let you mail us! There are no phones at Hogwarts." Hermione seemed surprised.

Sophia rolled her eyes. "You know there will be other owls I can use! I'll make friends and borrow theirs. Or Glyfly could bring a message back to you if you send me one first. I want something I can cuddle with."

"I actually had a cat, Crookshanks." Hermione smiled, remembering the not so lovable ball of fur she had back at Hogwarts. During the war she had left him at the burrow, but when the war was over he was gone. Hermione never did find him. She frowned remembering this.

"That thing?" Draco smirked. "It was mean! You know it bit me once right?"

"You probably deserved it! No, I know you deserved it, you git!" Hermione laughed. Crookshanks was anything but friendly. He loved Hermione but that was it, anyone else was just an annoyance to him.

* * *

"Muuuuum! James and Al keep taking my broom!" Sophia screamed down the stairs, chasing the two boys that were flying through the house on her broom. The boys were laughing as they weaved through the house perfectly. James had made the Quidditch team with Sophia and was constantly playing with her stuff. Sophia has just finished her fifth year at Hogwarts and was looking forward to spending some quality alone time away from her crazy cousins. James had just finished his fourth year, Albus his third, and the littlest Potter, Lily just finished her first. Currently they were plaguing the manor because their father, Sophia's Uncle Harry -who of course wasn't a real uncle but as her mother's best friend he was an honorary one -was in France for some international Auror business. Ginny Potter had warmed up since becoming a mother and Hermione could stand her, actually offering to help watch the kids when she needed while Harry was gone.

"Boys! Be good!" Hermione called from the living room where she was tending to Lily who had been pushed by James on his way up to steal Sophia's broom, knocking her down and scraping her knee pretty badly. She had already tended to the wound magically but it was more so that Lily's feelings were hurt. Which of course left her unavailable to actually help Sophia with the menaces of cousins she had.

Sophia was just about to have to tackle them down from her broom as they zoomed around the foyer when she heard a familiar *pop*. Draco no sooner than materialized when he had his daughter grabbing his one hand and dragging him to where the boys had flown off to. "They did it again! If they break this one I'll kill them!"

Draco entered the kitchen to see James and Albus potter both on one broom, which was surprisingly able to support the both of them, flying through the open air. "What do you think you're doing?" Draco's voice boomed through the kitchen. He wasn't yelling, he rarely did, but used this cold voice that could freeze the sun over.

James looked up, startled by the voice. His eyes widened when he saw Draco standing there. Quickly he pulled the broom to a halt and both he and Albus hopped off, scurrying from the room. They left the broom to fall to the floor with a crack. Luckily the broom looked to be in fine condition when Sophia walked over and snatched it off the ground. "Thank you Daddy." She said pointedly, before practically skipping away with the prized object in her hands.

Hermione walked into the room just in time to see Sophia leaving, cradling her broom in her arms. She certainly did love that thing. She walked over to Draco, wrapping her arms around him. He pulled her into a deep kiss and she melted against him instantly.

"Ewwwwww" could vaguely be heard from where the boys had been watching from the hall to see if they were in any real trouble.

Draco chuckled as he held Hermione close. "I'm so happy we didn't have a boy. They're little trouble makers."

It was Hermione's turn to laugh. "I couldn't imagine another you around here! Sophia is already too much like you."

Draco shook his head, smiling. "No, Sophia's in a category of all her own." 

* * *

-Author's Note-  
Gushy gushy mush mush. This is just a cutesy little chapter of watching Sophia grown up.  
Don't worry, she won't be such a Mary Sue character for long.


	2. Here We Come

-Author's Note-

Please keep in mind that the first person chapters are written like a 16 year old girl talks. So no, it may not be written like a beautifully worded novel all the time but I kinda like it this way because you see more of her personality. Hope you enjoy! 

* * *

Buzz buzz buzz buzz

My eyelids opened just a crack in response to the annoying noise. 7:00 am. Ugh. Too early. My right hand shot out to smack the large black oval button on the top of the alarm clock that was producing the noise. Snooze. My eyes closed again. Unfortunately my snooze only allowed me to drift off for ten minutes. When the alarm started to pester me again I glared at it before taking my right hand and smacking the entire device off of my bedside table. This successfully shut up the noise because the cord unplugged on it's way across my room.

"Sophia. It's time to wake up. " I vaguely heard my mother call from downstairs. She knew that noise was me throwing my alarm clock. I had broken the thing too many times to count. Every time I ended up having to bring it down to Mum or Dad and have them fix it for me. You know since I couldn't do magic outside of school, a rule that I despised. Each time they would just shake their head and tell me I needed to stop doing it, which I never listened to. I paid absolutely no attention to her call upstairs before I let my eyes close and dozed off into a peaceful sleep. You know beds are so much more comfortable when you need to get out of them. That's like a proven fact!

"Soph! Wake up!" My Dad was knocking on my door. I signed loudly and pulled myself up from bed. At least it was him, my Mum would be in here already pulling me out of bed.

"I'm up!" I murmured sleepily.

I heard my Dad chuckle as he opened my bedroom door. "You drive your mother insane." He smirked at me.

"I know" I giggled. My mother was easily flustered, she was constantly concerned about me being late. She did have good reasons for that though, I had no concept of time.

"You don't want to be late, the train doesn't wait for anyone." He smiled, grabbing one of my bags to bring it to the living room where we would floo from.

I glanced at my clock 9:58. Ugh! The train left at 11 and I still needed to shower and get ready. I walked over to the bathroom that was off of my bedroom. "I'll be ready! I promise Daddy, it won't be like last year!" We had just barely made it in time to make the train. Though my parents may not have minded bringing me to Hogwarts, I did! No one wants their parents at their school. That's just a huge disaster waiting to happen.

"We'll see, Sophia." He smiled warmly at me. I was through and through a Daddy's girl. He went out of his way to make sure I was always happy. I know a lot of girls would have taken advantage of that but I tried not to. I know he was doing it because he had a bad childhood. It didn't seem right to exploit that. Mum had told me about my father's past, more when I learned some things about them both in history lessons at school. His family were dark wizards and he found a way to break out of that. I was proud to be his daughter.

I showered quickly and got dressed just as fast. I decided I wouldn't put on my school robes until I got to Hogwarts so I threw them in my bag, opting for my normal, muggle clothes.

I finally managed to walk into the kitchen at 10:45. "I'm ready!" I smiled at my parents sitting at the kitchen table. My day had a newspaper in his hand while my mother was looking on the back of that paper doing some brainy game.

They both looked up at me and smiled. "About time!" My dad chuckled.

"Eat something before you leave," My worrisome mother said as she stole a piece of my dad's toast, holding it out to me.

"I'm okay, I'll get something in the train." I watched my mother eat the toast she had stolen.

My Dad gave me _that look_ and spoke. "We know that's all candy. Grab an apple or something."

"Fiiiiine." I smirked at him as I walked to the counter that had the colorful glass fruit bowl on it, swiping a green apple.

"I can't believe she's already a sixth year!" My mum mumbled to my dad.

"I know." My Dad frowned. "She'll be okay though." He pulled her close as he whispered that statement into her ear.

"Just hope it's better than your experiences with school." I smiled at my mum.

She started laughing. "Me too!" She smile broadly at me. "I don't even know why I'm worried, Hogwarts is a completely different place now."

My dad pushed back a sleeve and looked down at his black watch. "We've got to get going. All of your bags are ready, let's all grab some powder and go." He did as he instructed us to and walked over to the fireplace. "I'll see you two on the otherside." He winked. "King's Cross Station!" And he was gone.

It was my turn to follow suit. I did just as he had and found myself in the familiar train station with my dad. Soon after my mother was there as well. Grabbing a trolley my dad put my bags on it and herded us towards platform 9 3/4.

Parents and their children were everywhere. Owls in cages squawked at people who passed by them. I saw many familiar faces but there were some new as well, though most of those were first years. Mothers crying as they watched their children board the train. I waved to a group of girls that I knew from a class.

A man I vaguely knew came up to us, trailing behind him was a woman and child. Oh, I knew exactly who the kid was. It started piecing itself together.

"Drac!" Blaise Zabini spoke loudly as he crashed into my father. "Hermione and Sophia." He smiled at my mum. Blaise had been in my life only a few times. His wife, Pansy, and my mother didn't get along. And it was easy to see why. She was just a little crazy and very, very rude. The kid was the biggest brat you'd ever meet. Duncan Zabini had been adopted by the Zabinis when he was 9 months old. And of course he was from a pureblood family who just didnt want kids. Blaise and Pansy had raised him and definitely were to blame for his "I'm better than anyone else" attitude. Pansy has suffered six miscarriages before she finally turned to adoption, which seemed horrible to me. But I still wished they never adopted either... Now he was a third year and every day he grew more and more arrogant and annoying.

"Hello Blaise." My dad smiled, they were best friends at some point in their lives. They still got together every once and a while to watch Quidditch. "Pansy, Duncan." He nodded at the other two.

"Dray! Pansy squealed. She had a weird thing for my father. It was easy to see and made everyone uncomfortable. She went to wrap her arms around him but he sidestepped her, putting himself closer to my mum who gave Pansy a smug look. Five points for the Malfoys.

"You said 'hi' can we go now?" An impatient rat... I mean Duncan... spoke. He was never shy about telling any of the Potters and I that he didn't like us. Not that we minded all that much because none of us liked him!

"Yeah, yeah." Blaise rolled his eyes. He turned to me. "Sweet Sophia, you're growing up too fast. I don't know what your dad here will do without you." Blaise had always liked me, and I never minded him. As long as he didn't have his family with him.

My dad chuckled softly. "I don't know either. Hard enough just letting her go to school." He smiled at me. My mother nodded.

"You're so sappy!" I rolled my eyes but laughed with him.

Blaise and his family went their own way and we walked to where I would leave them.

"And here's where we part." My father said stiffly.

"Be good!" My mother warned. As if I ever really got into trouble. I was generally good as gold. And any time I did get into a little trouble she never knew about it, it was never _that_ bad. There also was the fact that she had gotten into more trouble by her second year than I had in all five of mine.

"Stop worrying! I'll be fine, Mum! I'll write you when I get there. I'll use Lily's owl." I hugged her tightly.

"Have fun, but not too much fun," My dad winked at me, then wrapped his arms around my mother and I.

A whistle blew. "Okay, okay! I have to go. I love you both!" I smiled brightly at my two loving parents. I walked briskly to the open train door. Practically skipping on my way to my destination.

"Hey ladies!" I called as I opened the sliding door to our train compartment. Inside sat my two best friends. Audra Gale and Lola Yorkenshire. Audra was the spunky fashionista who never went anywhere without looking fabulous. She has red hair, like firetruck red. This had been an accident when she was playing with beauty potions but in the time it took for that potion to wear off she developed a love for the color and cast a spell on her hair to keep it that way. It really worked with her dark brown eyes. She was the one who had the most attitude out of us, but we loved her anyway . Lola was the creative one. She was an amazing singer and never took a trip without her guitar. She had shiny black hair that was long and straight, unlike my curly mess. Her green eyes stood out as well. I was use to seeing green eyes, my uncle Harry and cousin Al both had bright green eyes. But Lola's eyes were different, they were an emerald green that got darker when her mood worsened. She was stunning to look at. I had developed well I think. My parents just happened to both be good looking. The three of us girls met as first years when we were all placed in the same room at Hogwarts. We've been inseparable ever since.

"Sophia!" They both yelled in unison. Both jumping up and greeting me. Startling my cat, Willow. She jumped at their yelling and crawled up my back. I took my seat and she curled up on my lap.

"How was summer? Did you vacation someplace amazing?" Lola asked. She came from a pretty poor family and was always amazed by the life I lived. My father had money running in his family. I took Lola with me on trips as often as I could.

"Nowhere special. We went on a muggle cruise around the Bermuda Triangle. The people kept talking about how it was full of bad magic. They don't have any clue what bad magic really is!" I laughed. Granted I didn't know first hand what bad magic was either. It was something we learned about in Defense Against the Dark Arts though. Which was a class I loved and excelled in. "How about you two, do anything fun? Anything naughty?" I winked at them.

Audra rolled her eyes. "Shut up!" She laughed.

Lola laughed along and just smiled shyly at us.

"What gives? What'd you do?" I asked knowingly.

"I finally met Sven's parents!" A broad smile plastered across her face. "His mum is gorgeous! She has this thick Russian accent that actually sounds pretty. His dad is just really funny. I'm glad they liked me. They told me I could stay over there whenever I wanted." Sven was Lola's boyfriend of a little over a year. He was half Russian, half English which resulted in a very interesting accent from learning to speak from his parents different tongues. Lola and Sven were the couple that made you want to puke because they were just too cute. Sven was a Ravenclaw, which was easy to tell why. The kid was a freaking genius! Meanwhile us three girls were in Slytherin.

The sorting hat had argued with me terribly. He wanted me in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor but I simply would not stand for it. I had heard terrible things about Slytherins from reading and I wanted to step up and prove that the house isn't what makes the person. During the war the Slytherin house had been separated from the other three houses. They couldn't be trusted because so many of their parents were on the opposing side of the war. People thought it was because all Slytherins were evil, but that's not true. The school just couldn't justify having children fight against their own parents, so they moved the house down to the dungeons, where they would be safe and not a danger to anyone else either. I don't know what I would do if I ever had to fight against my own parents. So here I am, dressed in silver and green, aiming to prove that not every Slytherin is truly a snake.

"That's awesome!" I smiled genuinely at her. She blushed and we both looked over at Audra who we knew would have a few crazy summer stories. Her parents were workaholics who never took time off so in the summer she went to a summer camp. Unfortunately for her it was an all girls camp. This always resulted in her and some other girls sneaking out to the boys camp that was half a mile down the road. This always resulted in hilarious stories.

Audra knew it was her time to shine. Her eyes danced as she told us countless camp stories, using her entire body to illustrate points that she made. She was nothing short of dramatic. When she finished she sat back like she was exhausted. We all laughed. "So girls..." She started, a perfectly Slytherin cunning smile playing at her cherry colored lips. "This year better be good!"

I recrossed my right leg over my left and smirked, the "Malfoy smirk" as my mother calls it. "I have a feeling this is going to be the most exciting year yet. Watch out Hogwarts, here we come!"

* * *

-Author's Note-  
This sounds like SUCH a little book you'd read when you're 11 haha. Trying to get inside the head of a 16 year old, which I haven't been for some time... (did I do okay? Is this how you girls think?) I also hate descriptions of people like "oh she had black hair and green eyes," but I also like knowing what people look like when I read. So it was a struggle to decide if I wanted to add it, but I did.  
Trust me, it gets better!


	3. Slytherin Pride

"We hope you have a wonderful year here at Hogwarts," McGonagall finished her welcome speech.

Finally food appeared in front of us and we all dug in. Audra was telling us another one of her many stories from camp when I noticed motion by the main door.

Someone I had never seen before walked in the door. He was definitely someone I would have remembered. Shaggy light brown hair that was cut so that it almost covered his stormy gray stubble, maybe a day or two without shaving, covered his strong jawline and chin. This guy had a seriously perfect bone structure. Something that was more prominent than his looks was his demeanor. He looked...distraught. You could see his straight white top teeth as he chewed slightly on his lower lip. I watched as he walked over to our table. A Slytherin, perfect. I smiled smugly.

"Sophia? Hey! Earth to Sophia!" Lola was waving her hand in front of my face. Meanwhile Audra looked on agitated that I hadn't been listening to her speak.

I barely looked in their direction, instead keeping my eyes trained to the person who had most recently joined our table. "Who's the new guy?" I cocked an arched blonde eyebrow.

They both followed my line of vision to the end of the table where the good looking guy sat. "Hmmm. I don't know, but I'd love to find out." Audra spoke, using her sultry voice that always made guys fall at her feet. She really was too much to handle.

"Down girl." I smirked at her. I saw him first!

"I don't know girls, he gives me a weird vibe." Lola said weakly, staring right at the guy like he was a python waiting to strike. She always got these "vibes" off a people. She liked to read people. Which was probably why she was so good at divination.

"That's because you're in a relationship, duh!" Audra laughed.

"I guess..." Lola trailed off quietly.

"I would definitely like to get to know him," I gazed at him, repeating basically what Audra had just said.

"Well that's a first. No one catches your attention. I'll back off on this one. But the next hot guy you like we're fighting for." Audra winked at me.

"Oh bring it on," I smiled and winked at her before looking back at him. He wasn't part of any conversation right now. He simply sat there playing with his food as he looked horribly out of place. "I'll be right back." I shot the girls a smile before pushing myself up from the table. I walked confidently over to where the new guy sat, sitting down at the empty spot across from him. "Hi! I'm Sophia Malfoy." I smiled at him, batting my lashes.

The new guy barely looked up at me, just continued playing with his food. Uh...okay...

I cleared my throat. Well this was awkward. "I said 'Hi, I'm Sophia Malfoy.'"

This time he looked up at me, his eyes turned up towards me as he glared in my direction. He huffed out an annoyed sigh before pushing his plate back and getting up from the table. He walked away from where I sat at a deliberate pace. Well okay, screw you too new guy! "Rude!"

"I wouldn't mess with him Sophia. I know you're just trying to be nice but he seems really creepy," A fellow Slytherin named Andrew leaned in to speak to me.

I sent Andrew a smile to show that no stupid boy could bring me down. "You're probably right. Not worth my time." I got up from the table and quickly rejoined my friends.

"What's his problem!?" Audra asked loudly before I even got the chance to sit down.

"Who knows," I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"I told you he seemed weird!" Lola nudged me with her shoulder.

"You're right, just trying to be friendly." I smiled reassuringly at my two friends. "Anyway! Let's compare schedules!" I pulled mine out.

"We probably have the same classes. We all scored about the same on our O.W.L.s" Audra rolled her eyes. But she ended up reaching into her robe and pulling out a rolled piece of parchment. Lola followed suit.

"Okay so on Monday the day starts off with Defense Against the Dark Arts. Then I'm taking Ancient runes as my elective. Then a tons of fun double Potions after lunch."I looked up.

"Yup same here." Audra said simply. Lola just nodded.

"Tuesdays I have Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, a free period after lunch and then ancient runes again." This time I didn't even look up, just continued reading when I heard them both making "uh-huh" noises. "Wednesdays have Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, lunch, and double Potions. Thursdays are double Arithmancy" I started but was cut off by Lola.

"Wait, wait. I have double Care for Magical Creatures. Why are you taking Arithmancy? Thats so boring! "

"Yeah Soph, mega snoozefest. I'm taking a double muggle studies." We both shot her a look. "What?! You both know more about muggles than I do! Okay and it's a super easy class. Hey if I need to take another double class I might as well make it the easiest one!"

"You're ridiculous." I murmured, shaking my head.

"Nah, just smart." She winked at me, as she used her index finger to tap her forehead, "Okay go on."

"Alright..." I continued to read from my parchment. "Lunch, Double Divination , Astronomy. Then last but certainly not least Friday. Transfiguration, History of Magic, Charms. " I finished, looking up at them again.

"We're good." Lola smiled.

The room was starting to clear as more and more people got up to go back to their common room, or where ever they were headed to. The three of us sat for longer than almost anyone at our table before finally pulling ourselves up and making our way to the dungeon.

The party was going full swing in the dungeon when the three of us finally managed to get down there. The entire place was decked out in silver and green, more than usual.. which is saying something. Slytherin pride ran high around here.

"Hellllo girls!" A seventh year named Garrit, that had obviously had just a little too much fire whiskey, yelled as we entered the door. A cheer went up in the crowd at his antics.

The three of us all did some stupid wave, big smiles across our faces.

Suddenly Audra's head snapped up and to the left. She set her eyes on a tall, dark haired boy. "There's Theo! I simply must go talk to him! Catch you girls later!" She blew us a kiss as she ran off towards the boy.

"What are the chances of me sneaking Sven in to this?" Lola winked at me. She clearly knew the answer already. Our boys would rip him apart. It's a Slytherin night!

I smirked at her. "He wouldn't get passed the entry to the dungeon, let alone into the common room."

She laughed. "Yeah I figured as much. Hey you're not drinking tonight right?"

"Nope, don't worry I'll make sure both of you don't make too many stupid decisions." I never drank, it just wasn't something that seemed fun to me. I was only sixteen, I had all my life ahead of me if I wanted to drink. Currently I liked to party sober.

"This is why we're friends" Lola smiled at me.

"That's the only reason? Wow thanks!" I laughed.

We both made our way over to one of the large leather couches by the fireplace. We spent the night chatting with some friends and catching up with people. A group of guys where planning a decently harmless prank on some of the Gryfindors. Yeah, we Slytherins struck fast.

Suddenly a loud voice caught all of our attention and the room hushed. "Well well well! What do we have here?" Garrit asked the crowd as a small third year was trying to sneak up to the bedrooms with another third year girl. "Is that a Hufflepuff I see?" The younger girl stopped dead in her tracks. I didn't know how Garrit did it, he could spot someone from another house right away. Even though this girl had her hood up and was wearing Slytherin robe. Lola shot me a look, she had clearly been kidding when she asked about bringing her boyfriend. This was exactly why you couldn't do those things. "Now little Mason...you should know better than this. You don't bring others in here during a Slytherin party unless they are invited guests. We barely allow that Ravenclaw that Lola runs with. But a Hufflepuff?! Come on you can do better than this."

Lola shot him a look. "Oh shut up, you love Sven!"

"Which is why he gets in, but I don't know this one. Anyway he had the intelligence not to come tonight. Tonights for us only!" Garrit smirked.

The girl turned so we could see her face, she looked hurt. Ah. Her name was Hannah and she was one of the nicest people you'd meet. Poor girl didn't know what she got herself into.

"What should we do boys?" Garrit sneered to his two friends, who were practically his body guards. Garrit was well built from being the Captain of the Quidditch team but was nothing compared to the two standing behind him. They were total block heads that did nothing but work out.

"I dunno." The first one, Spencer, replied.

"What about..." Garrit pointed his wand at the girl. "Mobiliarbus." He was now able to move the girl through the air with his wand. He flipped her upside down, which caused the robe she was wearing and her pleated skirt to fall, showing us her undergarments. She turned bright red from embarrassment and probably a little from being upside down.

"Serpensortia." The second friend of Garrit's used a spell that produced a large green snake that slithered right for where Garrit was dangling the girl. Hannah started to cry, it was known that she was very afraid of snakes. Okay embarrassing her was one thing but a poisonous snake was heading in her direction now and that could get pretty dangerous.

"Garrit put her down." I stated bluntly as I made my way to the front of the crowd.

"I'm just having a bit of fun!" He acted like he was doing absolutely nothing wrong. Well in his mind he probably wasn't.

"Immobulus." I pointed my wand at the snake, rendering the reptile immobile. "It's not funny when she could get seriously injured. Embarrassing her was fine, but she's just a kid. Trust me, she won't be back. She knows better now."

"Sophia why do you have to be such a good person? We're just living up to our Slytherin name." He shrugged.

"The Slythein name is cunning and sly. Not being a huge git!" I countered.

"Fine fine, you got me." He sighed and let the girl down. "You're too much of a sweetheart." Garrit winked at me.

A guy in the crowd murmured something like, "All angels have to fall sometime..."

I just rolled my eyes and followed Hannah out of the common room. "Hey! Hannah!" I called after her.

She started to run away but then realized it was the girl who just saved her ass. She let me catch up to her. "Thank you for that."

"It's no problem. Garrit just had a little too much to drink, he's usually a somewhat decent guy. Okay...sometimes." I laughed. "Anyway I figured I'd walk with you to at least where the dungeon stops and make sure you're okay. "

"Yeah...just embarrassed." She looked down at her feet.

"It's whatever none of them will remember it in the morning." I reassured her. The Slytherin house parties hard.

"I hope not!" She giggled softly.

"Okay here's where I leave you. Go back to your room. Hufflepuffs get shit, as I'm sure you know, from every house so be careful."

"Ugh, I know! Thank you for helping." She sighed before walking away.

The night didn't actually end until early that morning. I had finally round up Audra and Lola and gotten them in their own beds by 5am. Classes were going to be hell the following morning.

* * *

-Author's Note-  
Oh this angel will fall...  
And this isn't really a love story.


	4. Sleepless Nights and Quidditch Fights

Defense Against the Dark Arts has always been one of my favorite classes. In the past, pre-war, teachers of Defense Against the Dark Arts had never lasted. Something must have changed because I had always had the same teacher. Professor Longbottom had been teaching this class for as long as I have been here. Though apparently before that he had taught Herbology and only took this new class because no one else wanted it. He seemed to enjoy the class though. When my dad saw who was teaching Defense he started laughing, like in hysteria. My mum yelled at him for being rude and told me that I would like him very much. Professor Longbottom had a soft spot for the Potters and I. Though he wasn't sure what to think of me at first. He had always found it hard to believe that my mum could ever marry my dad. I didn't understand why it was so hard, they were perfect for each other.

Though it may have been one of my favorite classes I was still falling asleep in it. I looked around and saw that all of the Slytherins looked the same or worse than I did. Audra, who sat next to me, looked nauseous the entire class. Lola was only being kept awake by Sven who kept shaking her gently whenever the teacher would look in their direction. The only Slytherin in the room that didn't look like they were about to die was the new kid. He had disappeared into his room last night before the party even started. So far he was definitely not fitting in here. Whatever, maybe he would go back to wherever the hell he came from!

After what seemed like an eternity it was time for lunch. I had sat through two classes, Defense and Ancient Runes. Ancient Runes always kept my attention, but not Audra's, who fell asleep on my shoulder and got yelled at in front of everyone for it.

_"Maybe if this class wasn't so boring then I'd actually be able to stay awake!" Audra snapped back._

_Without missing a beat the professor yelled back. "Maybe if you Slytherins took school seriously, you'd actually stay awake in my class! Look at you all falling asleep!" She gestured to the class. I looked around and saw that she was correct, as much as that pained me to say._

_Audra narrowed her eyes. "Oh there's the house card again. WE GET IT! You were a Gryffindor, whoopty fucking doo!" Yeah... Audra kinda had a problem with authority figures._

_"That's it! 50 points from Slytherin. It'll be 100 if I catch any of you falling asleep or talking back!"_

_Needless to say we all were awake and silent the rest of the class._

None of us were looking forward to a double Potions either.

"Hey Sophia!" Garrit walked up to me. He looked surprisingly well for being so drunk last night.

"Hi?" I questioned.

"Two things. I'm sorry about last night, I was a bit rough on the girl and I know how you hate that." He smiled genuinely at me.

"She's okay so it's fine. No harm, no foul. " I shrugged.

"And the other thing is tomorrow I'm holding Quidditch try outs. I'd like it if you'd come be a judge with me. You've been on this team longer than anyone else. Well other than me."

I had made the team my second year.

My dad was really, really proud and that made it so much better. My mum was proud too... and worried that I would die or something. She went on to tell me horror stories of when Harry played and got injured because someone in the crowd threw a spell at him. I assured her I would be okay. Ginny was also delighted because she thought I was following in her footsteps. She had played professionally for an all woman's team. She ended up leaving the Holyhead Harpies when her and Harry decided to start a family. Needless to say I was surrounded by Quidditch players from a very young age.

"Yeah Garrit, I'd love that!" I beamed. It was nice to be appreciated and included.

"Awesome! I'll meet you on the pitch at 4:30." Garrit smiled before walking away back to his seat to finish his lunch.

"Well this sounds fun!" I clapped my hands together.

* * *

It wasn't fun. I had to crush a lot of little second, third, and even a fifth years' dreams of being on the team.

"This is painful to watch." I stated to Garrit as I watched one kid get knocked off his broom by a bludger while he wasn't paying proper attention.

"This is exactly why I needed you here, it's crazy. The first day everyone thinks they're the next professional Quidditch player. Then they try out and make themselves look like fools. Just wait until you get one that simply won't believe they didn't make it." Garrit shrugged.

After about two hours we finally finished. Everyone who didn't make it automatically blamed me. Which was crazy because I actually felt bad about hurting their feelings.

A large second year, who looked like he could have been a fifth year honestly, was one person who did such a thing. "It's the stupid blonde's fault. What is she, the cheerleader?" He spat in my direction.

"Excuse you!" I yelled getting up from the table, picking up an inactive bludger and throwing it at the kid. It hit him right in the stomach, taking his breath away.

"She's no cheerleader. She's the best damn seeker you'll ever see. Good luck ever making this team now. You've already made enemies. You knew second years didn't usually make it." Garrit yelled at the kid.

"But she did!" The boy puffed, still out of breath from the iron ball going into his gut.

"She was an exception." Garrit glared at him.

"Only because all of you guys are in love with her!" The boy yelled back.

Garrit's face turned bright red. "Get off my pitch!" He screamed, his voice echoing in the now silent field. Apparently this was enough for the boy because he scrambled away.

An awkward tension filled the air. I attempted to break that tension by speaking. "So! I'd like to congratulate our newest additions to the team. Welcome Anna, Marcus, and Alix! I would also like to mention that I will be teaching Marcus here the ropes of being a seeker. I'm training him to take over my spot after my 7th year." I smiled at him, he was going to be good.

"Yeah well anyway. We have practice tomorrow. Thursday the Ravenclaws have the pitch for their tryouts so we won't have practice." He ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah...have a good night everyone. Dismissed." He walked away from us.

Well that was eventful.

* * *

-Author's Note-

Hey lovelies! First thing- This was short, really short. Oops. Second - No, this isn't a love story. This story isn't about Sophia finding a boyfriend. The guy in the story does have a lot of significance, but him dating Sophia is not the point. So don't worry, this story will have a lot more depth to it once I drop the bombshell! (And no she does not get pregnant! Been there, done that!) Anyway! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. There is some Dramione coming up as well!


	5. Don't Be Late To Arithmancy

Thursday started off with a double Arithmancy. How fun. Even more fun since I was running late and rushing to the class! I was only taking the class because it seemed like something I might actually use in the real world, after Hogwarts. I wasn't positive on what I wanted to be when I was "all grown up" and I had time. Okay not really much time but I'm sure something will come to me. I knew I didn't want something like my parents. My mother's job is all paperwork. Which I would hate and get bored of easily. She got paid well and she liked it there. She also had input on important matters in the magical community and she always liked to stay involved. My dad had paperwork too but still got more action in the field on occasion. Neither job was my cup of tea but whatever made them happy i guess. They had jobs that gave them enough time to spend with me as I was growing up. Huh, I wonder what they did while I wasn't there.

* * *

"That was nice." Hermione murmured as she was drifting off to sleep. Her mind went back to the days when their daughter was little. It was so hard to be intimate because it was like the girl had a radar. The second Hermione and Draco would be all ready to go there would be a faint knock on the door. Sophia was petrified of the dark. Draco read to her every night with the light on until she fell asleep. Then as he left he would turn out the main lighting and only keep two small night lights on both sides of her bed to light the darkened room. More often the not she would wake up and scamper to her parents room, where she would crawl in between them. It got even harder when Sophia's magic started to appear. She would accidentally open all the doors in the house or turn on the lights. But these experiences definitely made both Draco and Hermione thankful for any alone time they could get.

She felt a low rumble in the surface she was attempting to sleep on. Draco was trying to speak to her but she only felt the vibrations of his voice from his chest which she had been using as her pillow. "Huh?" She finally managed. It had been a perfect day. For some reason, that she had a hunch wasn't just a coincidence both Draco and her had the day off. They spent the day just being a couple. Usually they were parents before a couple so it was nice to have some time to themselves. Sophia had written to them telling them about Quidditch, her classes, and just normal teen stuff. It was nice to hear from her. They had both replied to the letter but that was the only part of the day being focused on their daughter instead of on each other.

Draco chuckled and shot her his trademark smirk. "I'm going to take the fact that you are blissfully falling asleep with that adorable satisfied grin on your face as a compliment." He winked at her.

Hermione smiled up at him. "As you should, you're perfect." She knew she was lucky to have him. Even after all this time it was still surprising at times the way things had worked out. She couldn't be happier.

He pulled her into a tighter embrace. "I am a man of many flaws... but I did manage to get a few things right. And I must say I'm pretty happy how it turned out." He kissed the top of her head.

"Oh? Like what?" Hermione asked playfully as she wiggled up the bed to place a soft kiss on his jaw.

Draco nuzzled into the affectionate notion. "Yes, like marrying you." He smiled warmly at her.

"Even if it took you forever!" She baited him. She knew exactly why he waited and she appreciated that deeply.

"Hermione." Draco started in a grumpy voice. He could pout like a downright child when he wanted to, but it always got Hermione to sooth him.

"Shhh. Yes, yes, I know. You wanted to give me time. You didn't want me to be the fiancée of someone and hate it just to jump into being a fiancée again. Even though this time I didn't hate it. I agree that that would have looked bad. Not that anything we did really looked good."

"And..." He prompted.

She snuggled into him more before continuing. "And... you also knew that there was no way that we could plan as perfect of a wedding as we had while we had a newborn infant. It really was tricky with a two year old, let alone a newborn. You're smart Mr. Malfoy. I'm greedy and just wanted to steal your last name sooner."

Draco smiled. She always knew exactly what to say to pull him from his cold and somber moods. "Well I was damn sure happy to give it to you, Mrs. Malfoy." Hermione still loved to hear that. Go back to when she was Sophia's age and if you said that one day she would love being called Mrs. Malfoy she would have punched you in the face. Much like she had done to him once... Oh how time changes things. "And the other thing I did right was help make and raise a beautiful daughter. Who is growing up too fast to being a lovely young lady... like her mother. "

"I'm not exactly a young lady anymore, love." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Shush you!" He smiled down at his wife. Draco never forgot how lucky he was. "And even though I love that daughter very much I can't exactly say that I would want to have her home right now. I am very much enjoying my alone time with her mother." Draco winked.

"I miss her, but this definitely helps ease that." She smiled up at her adoring husband. A come-and-get-me grin playing on her face. Leaning up to kiss him passionately enough to start something they wouldn't finish until very late into the night.

* * *

I was very very late to Arthimancy. "Nice of you to join us, Ms. Malfoy." Professor Vector said as I tried to sneak in the door. I should've known that wouldn't work. She had such an eye for detail. This was something I was sure she needed to teach Arthimancy anyway. "Take your seat." This teacher generally liked me but she really did hate tardiness. I looked around for an open spot and much to my dismay the only one open was by the very guy who refused to speak to me his first day at Hogwarts. I was just trying to help. But obviously he was doing fine on his own, you know with all the friends he has. I drowned those thoughts in heavy sarcasm. Seriously how cliché was this? I think a guy is cute even though he turns out to be a total ass. He's in the same elective as me, at the same time! And in the one class I don't have my friends. I mean he was in my other classes too but this was weird. Then I accidentally oversleep and come to class late which leaves me with the last open seat, which is usually by the Ravenclaw with gas problems. But no, even the seat next to him was filled. The amount of tables and chairs magically adjust between classes to fit the size needed. So now here I was having to sit by the guy I once thought was nice to stare at but who turned out to be a git. Can you get anymore storybook than that? Whoever the author was, I was cursing them out. There was no way I was falling for that sleaze and no way we would live "happily ever after".

I groaned loudly as I took my stupid seat next to this stupid boy who's stupid name I didn't even know but I was sure it was something stupid.

"Problem Ms. Malfoy?" Vector asked.

"No ma'am. Just disappointed that I couldn't get a seat closet to the front."

"Oh? Do you have vision problems? I don't remember you ever sitting towards the front before. And you seem to find that snitch fairly easily in the sky. Great last game last year by the way!" She smiled at me, she was a Quidditch fan.

"No ma'am, my eyes are fine. And thank you my team played an amazing game that night." I smiled at her. Our last game last year was against Gryffindor. I had beat their seeker, my cousin James (who I loved beating), to finding and catching the snitch helping us win the game. I came home with a fractured wrist after James pushed me off my broom because he hates losing. My mother went ballistic, she hated the game. I never told her that technically I didn't get hurt in the game or that James did it. My dad on the other hand was proud of me and that I was treating his position well.

Vector went on teaching the class. I was busy scribbling notes when an angry voice whispered in my ear. "You didn't seem to mind sitting by me when you stared at me for ten minutes straight and then pranced yourself on over and placed yourself in front of me. "

"Excuse me?" I whispered back in a matching angry tone.

"You heard me, princess." He bit back.

Princess? Seriously? "Get over yourself. If you haven't noticed, I'm nice to everyone. Don't take it personal. You're nothing special." Okay...well I was nice to most people.

He laughed a little too loudly. "Me? Me get over myself? Have you heard yourself talk? If anyone has an ego it's you."

"I do not have an ego. I know I'm a nice person. That's not arrogance." I glared at him.

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes at me. The rest of the class we spent ignoring each other.

When the class I was over a picked myself up from the table and practically ran for the door. I didn't want to be in the same proximity as him, the stupid git. I mean seriously, how annoying can someone be?

He walked out right behind me. He caught my arm and spun me around to face him. His eyes flashed over me. He spoke, "Sophia, I will be blunt with you, you seem like a nice girl but I'm not exactly a nice person. I'm not somebody you'd want to mess around with too much. You're easy to type, you're Daddy's little girl who's never had to want anything because she gets it the second that that want pops into her head. But you don't let that go to your head. No, you just have to be nice to everyone. So people can't even hate you for it. But your main problem is you try to fix everything. You've probably never had a problem that wasn't a simple fix thanks to Mummy and Daddy. Welcome to the real world there are some problems that are not just going to go away because you involve yourself in them. Some things you should just let go and stay out of. And I'm one of those things. Just leave me alone, Sophia. If you know what's best for you."

* * *

-Author's Note-  
Kinda broke the fourth wall an itttty bit haha. I love that this new guy called her out on her shit. I just loathe those perfect people who are so nice that you can't even be mad at them for being perfect. Alas, I must build her up before I can tear her down (insert maniacal laughter).

Also, yay some Dramione. Can you tell I hate writing sex scenes? I avoid them like the plaque. (But just between us, I'm in the process of writing a new story and sex is a huge component of it. So that's a challenge for me. It's also a horror/mystery type [but don't worry it's not about rape!], which is new to me as well. But shhh...that won't be out for a little bit.)


	6. Accidents Do Happen

"Soph! He's so weird, why are you even giving him the time of day?" Lola was lying on her bed, feet dangling off as she looked at the ceiling.

Audra put down her magazine and looked at me. "Yeah he may be good looking but he's a total psycho. I'd stay away from him. One minute he's telling you that you're arrogant and the next he's saying you're too nice? Split personality much?"

"A split personality and being psycho are two different things," Lola offered, always one to try to be politically correct.

"Whatever."

"I dunno... I feel bad for him. I'm the only one he's even talked to. The three others in his room haven't even had conversations with him other than yes/no answers to questions." I shrugged, sitting at the end of my own bed as I painted my toe nails.

"You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped," Lola shrugged.

"Uh-huh!" Audra agreed, nodding and picking her magazine back up.

"Fine, I'll let it go for now, " I sighed, knowing that they were probably right. "He just is very curious. I want to figure him out."

"He's a man, Sophia. You'll never figure him out." Audra looked up. "Oh time for dinner! I'm starving. I could probably eat a whole hippogriff." Audra smiled as she jumped off her bed and started for the door. Lola and I rolled our eyes as we followed her. We took our normal spots at the table and dug in.

"Hey Sophia!" Garrit sat next to me at the table. "I'm so pumped for our game next week!"

I laughed as I high fived him. "Ravenclaw is so going down!"

"Obviously! We just so happen to have the best seeker in all of Hogwarts." He smiled at me, then started to shovel food into his face. This guy ate like his stomach was a black hole.

"Well..." I rolled my eyes at him. "Seeing as there are only about four seekers in Hogwarts, I guess that's not too much of a compliment." I messed with him.

"Well there's always the backups too" he shrugged.

"Oh so a whole... maybe eight." I joked with him.

"Just take the compliment you little witch," He laughed.

The week passed quickly. Filled with classes and all the extra Quidditch practices we could fit in. We really wanted our first game to go flawlessly. The team was shaping up to look great. It seemed like the season would be ours. 

* * *

The game was brutal. It was cold, wet, and everything was slippery. This made holding onto the broom so much harder than it normally was, which already was kind of hard especially when flying at the speed that I was. I continued to look for the little golden snitch but because of the thick fog rolling in it was almost impossible. Luckily the Ravenclaw seeker was having just as hard of a time. On the plus side we were still up and so, even though I couldn't find the snitch, it was still working out the best. Water droplets kept collecting on my goggles from flying through the dense fog. At least it had stopped raining. The entire first half of the game was played in a down pour. Quidditch was definitely a rain or shine game. We always played, no matter what. I looked around for the snitch but all I could see was chaos in the air. I watched as players zoomed in and out of the fog, most of them not even playing a proper game of Quidditch but instead just trying to figure out which way was which. Honestly it was hard to tell. After flying in circles for so long I couldn't tell you which side was our side. Good thing I didn't have to! My main goal was just to find the little golden ball with its whispering wings. Where was that thing? Everything was moving slowly. Players kept flying into each other due to the fact that you couldn't see beyond a foot in front of you. I was on the outside of the denser fog so I could see more clearly luckily. Though when I looked down I still couldn't see the ground. I could hear the crowd but I couldn't see them or even make out the stands where they sat. I just wanted this game to be over so I could go back to the castle, take a hot bath, and go to sleep.

And that's when I saw a large iron object flying towards me. A bludger had been hit from our own Beater named Kevin. He had been trying to protect another one of our team members and I'm sure he didn't see me. But before I knew it the bludger and I were face to face. No literally... it came and hit me right in the side of my forehead.

The ball smashed into me before rebounding and going in the opposite direction. The shock of the ball had caused me to let go of my broom. I wasn't thinking clearly because I didn't even think to grab back onto the broom. Instead I allowed myself to slip off and start falling from the sky. I vaguely felt myself hit something solid and warm. Someone had caught me, carrying me down on their broom. I could just start to make out the ground when my vision faded to black.

Losing consciousness is a weird feeling. One second you're panicking as the world starts to dim and the next you're just gone. You're no longer aware of the chaos around you. There's nothing you can do other than just wait to wake up.

"The school shouldn't had allowed them to play a game while the weather was this bad." I heard my mother's voice, eyes still closed. Oh great, she already hated Quidditch.

"So you're the little shit that hit my daughter?" I heard my father growl.

"I am so sorry Mr. Malfoy! I just... I couldn't see her!" Kevin sounded like he was terrified. It was that image in my head that made me open my eyes. A tall six foot two, built guy was shaken like a leaf on an autumn day in front of my Dad. My vision was still a little blurry but I could make out everyone in the room.

I hoarsely laughed. "Dad, stop. He didn't see me. Anyway someone caught me."

"That was me! I caught you, I flew after you the second I saw the bludger hit!" He moved over towards my bedside. I think he was trying to prove to my Dad that he wasn't trying to hurt me. Too bad that dust work.

"Wouldn't of had to if you didn't hit her in the first place." My dad stated, venom coating his words. He was slightly over protective. If anything or anyone threatened my Mum or I, well... it would suck to be them. He could be down right scary when he was angry. Luckily that wasn't something I often saw. Only twice had I ever seen him lose his cool. Both matters were over protecting his "two favorite girls".

"Daddy, I'm okay!" I smiled, trying to put him at ease.

"You have a concussion. And you've been out for three hours." My mother came over and took my hand. "Do you know how dangerous that is? We were so worried when you wouldn't wake up." She seemed to be on the edge of tears. That never happened, I had never seen my mother cry and I didn't want to start now.

I have her a reassuring hug before looking at Kevin. "Kevin, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Mistakes happen. You can go." I smiled at him.

"Feel better!" He called as he scrambled from the room, relieved to escape the tense environment.

Just as he was leaving in came Audra and Lola, with Garrit trailing close behind them. "What the hell! We leave for five minutes and you wake up?" Audra says loudly as she sees me.

"We brought you candy!" Lola smiles brightly as she holds up a box from Honeydukes. This is exactly why they're my best friends.

"I asked to have the game postponed, but they told us we had to play. Even though we were down our seeker and one beater. But I'm sure you'd be happy to know we won!" Garrit smiled sheepishly. Down a beater? Oh so Kevin must have brought me here. I'd really have to thank him later. He did after all save me from falling to my death.

"Stopping the game would have been dumb." I stated. No reason to stop on my account. My team had what it took to go on. "I wasn't doing much good anyway... the fog was just too thick." I bowed my head disappointedly.

"Yeah well..." He trailed off. "Also tomorrow if you're up for it could you go over some basics with Marcus?"

"Why?" I asked suspiciously, my eyes narrowing at him.

He tensed. It was easy to see that he didn't want to deliver whatever news he had brought. "Well...we have another game in two days... and we can't have you playing."

"What?! Why? I'm fine. Look fine!" I jumped out of the bed. Okay too fast, head rush. I wobbled a bit before standing and watching the room spin around me.

"Right." Garrit watched me. "I'm not putting you on a broom. Captain's orders." He gritted his teeth.

I laughed at him. "Since when has 'Captain's orders' ever applied to me?" I questioned. It never had before. Garrit had always let me get away with anything. Even being ridiculously late to practice on more than one occasion.

"Since now. I'm not letting you get hurt again." He spoke softly.

"Garrit." I smiled a very convincing smile. "I'm flying in that game." I stated.

Before he could argue my Dad spoke. "No you're not."

My head snapped to look in his direction. "Daddy! Why not?" I whined, shocked that he wasn't taking my side about this. Quidditch was our thing.

"Because you're not getting more hurt. Take the week off from Quidditch. Your turn around time is fast, you'll be okay. " He patted my shoulder.

"You can't fly with a head wound dear." My Mum smiled weakly.

"We'll keep you busy!" Lola inserted herself into the conversation. Audra nodded enthusiastically beside her.

I knew I wasn't going to win this. "Fine! I'll help Marcus take my stupid spot!" I grumbled.

Garrit simply nodded before barely whispering an "I'm sorry."

"Can we have some time with our daughter...alone?" My Mum spoke to my friends. They all nodded and wandered out of the room. When they all left she spoke again. "We were worried sick, you just wouldn't wake up..."

"Sorry." I smiled weakly at them. I had sat back down on my bed. My mother sat at the end while my father was standing behind her, and hand placed on her back.

"You'll be back out there in no time." My Dad smile at me.

"Yeah...I know. Still sucks though." I shrugged.

"How's school going?" My Mum asked trying to change the topic and put me out of my miserable state.

"It's...going." I shrugged again. "My class schedule is heavy since I did well on my O.W.L.S. but you guys know how that feels. Almost all of my classes have Lola and Audra so that's cool. I'm sure I'll do fine this year." I smiled slightly. School was never a major concern for me. I had the brains of my parents, who were bother super smart. They had always been first and second in class. My Mum had always just beat my Dad, something that he hated as a child.

"Well that's good." My Dad smiled, he was less concerned about school. He knew I had it under control.

"Hey, the nurse said you could go as long as you're feeling alright. Why don't you give us a tour through the castle." Mum suggested.

I gave her a look. "You went to school here...you've 'toured' the castle a million times. "

She smiled. "Yeah but I wouldn't mind walking through it again. "

I looked at the clock on the wall. No one should be out and about at this time anyway. Might as well. "Alright, let's go. "

The walk through took a lot longer than I thought it would have. Every few minutes one of my parents would stop us to talk about something, a memory from when they were in school. Though it wasn't exactly the coolest thing to be doing it was actually kind of fun learning about the things my parents did here. My Dad stated how the last time they were walking these halls like this he was calling my mum some name and insulting her friends. She countered by mentioning the time he was turned into a ferret in class. They both laughed at how odd it was that two kids that seemed to hate each other were currently walking hand in hand down the same hallways that they had picked on each other in. 

* * *

-Author's Note-  
Kinda filler, kinda not.


	7. Tall, Dark, And Crazy

I missed Quidditch. The only time I was even allowed on the pitch was when I was helping Marcus prepare to take my position. Every single time I walked away from the pitch that I had spent so many hours flying over I was overcome with an immense sadness. Every time that I walked off I felt like I was leaving a piece of myself behind. Yes, Quidditch was way more than a sport to me. Though without Quidditch to look forward to I threw myself into school work even more, something that my mother loved. She kept writing to me. She tried to play it off like she always had something interesting to tell me or like she had a question that needed immediate attention. I knew that both of these things were just excuses for her to keep checking in on me. It was only a small concussion but she acted like I was knocking on death's door. I could see her sitting there at the kitchen table scribbling away as my Dad looked on with an amused smile. He would know that I wouldn't fall for the "We just painted the kitchen and thought you would just love to know that" messages she kept sending. He'd probably eventually tell her that she was making a big deal out of nothing, which she would yell at him for saying that. He would just shake his head and allow her to continue. Even if he found her actions ridiculous, he would never tell her what she could or could not do. She was a little crazy, but I guess he liked it that way.

"I'm so bored." Audra's whining pulled me out of the scenario that I had playing in my head. "Who cares they're just stars." She wasn't a fan of our current class, Astrology. Actually she wasn't really a fan of any class. Audra was one of the students everyone hated. She had a photographic memory and retained information like a sponge. She would sleep half the class and still pass every test with no less than a B+.

I, on the other hand, thought that Astrology was a fascinating class. Most of the work was done after class hours so we spent most of the in class time just talking and having fun. This was one of the few times the professor was lecturing and it was only because she was explaining our next project. We'd get to go to the Astrology tower every night for a week, but every group had a different week. I really did love Astrology.

"For this project you will be paired up with someone of a star sign that you are suppose to work well with. Our star signs give away who we are destined to be with. They also allow me to see who will work well on projects together. Should be fun!" The teacher clapped her hands together. She went down a list of names and star signs pairing each with a compatible sign. Then she got to me. "Sophia Malfoy! A Virgo is analytical, observant, reliable, precise. A Virgo works well with a Taurus being that a Taurus is dependable, persistent, patient, and generous. The Virgo may want the lead in this project but the Taurus will never allow them to take reign to completely. And it looks like the only Taurus is Greyson. "

Okay... So who's he? I looked around at all the familiar faces. I knew everyone's name. So that means...

Scratch everything I said about this class! I hate Astrology and its stupid star signs. Thanks Mum...couldn't have given birth to me in a different month?

"Go fucking figure!" A voice growled. The guy who told me to stay away from him was currently walking towards me.

I tried to be nice. I needed to make this less painful than it was sure to be. "So your name's Greyson?" I asked, genuinely interested.

"Obviously." He huffed out.

"Greyson... Greyson what?" I asked again, trying my luck.

"No last name. Don't have one." He said rolling his eyes, looking at me like I was five years old. Yeah because I was the stupid one. Who doesn't have last name?

"How don't you have a last name?" Seriously? Was that even possible?

"I just don't." He glared at me.

Okay. Drop it, I get it. "Oh well... Cool"

"Of all the people in this class I get paired with you. The only one who would sit there and question me about my name."

"That's pretty sad that you would rather have no one be interested in you than to let someone in," I shrugged. Whatever floats his boat I guess.

"You don't know me. Stop acting like you do," He spat.

"I know you better than anyone else here. You can't even deny that!" I smirked.

He just stared at me. Yeah that's right! I caught you! "You're insufferable. This is going to suck."

"Yeah I'm not happy about this either but I guess we're going to have to _suck_ it up and just do the project." What a twat.

"Looks like it." He rolled his eyes.

Yeah I didn't want to deal with him. Screw it, the girls were right. I can't help everyone. "You know actually I could just do it and have you put your name on it. I don't even care."

"What, and have you feel like you're doing me a favor? No way! And if you think that the professor won't know that we didn't work together than you're crazy. The teachers here know everything!"

"Fine whatever! Looks like we're going to have to spend time together." I glared right back at him. Hell I might be little but I wasn't afraid of him.

"Well chill out princess, I'm not going I give you some disease." He rolled his eyes again. I was about five seconds from ripping those rolling eyes out of his head.

"Are you kidding me?!" I screeched. "You're the one who didn't want anything to do with me! And now that I'm returning the feeling you yell at me? Audra is right you do have a split personality!"

"Audra... She's one of your little friends. The red head?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." I stated bluntly. Oh so now he shows interest. If he thinks I'll help him bag Audra, he's crazy.

"Well then I'm sure the other one was involved too. What are you doing talking about me to your friends?" He questioned.

My face turned red and I could feel the heat flood my face. "Nothing! I... I just mentioned it in passing! How you were rude... and stuff."

"Uh-huh." He nodded, smirking slightly.

* * *

A few weeks had passed and it was finally the start of the week that I had to work on my project. "So you're meeting what's his name tonight right?" Lola questioned at dinner.

"Greyson..." I offered the name. "And yes, I am. We're meeting in the astrology tower. In a little bit actually." I sighed.

"Try not to throw him off it." Audra joked. Okay...maybe only half joked. She wasn't his biggest fan. Well no one really was.

We were scheduled to meet right after dinner, so I should be leaving about now. I wasn't looking forward to tonight. Or any night for the rest of the week it would take to do this project. "Ugh, guess I better go." I sighed as I pushed my plate away.

"Good luck!" They both shouted as I walked away.

I took my time getting there. Seeing Mr. Crazy right now just wasn't my top priority. I climbed up to the tower with sluggish motions. It was just starting to get dark as I finally made it to the top. I saw Greyson standing with his back to me as he leaned over the railing, looking up at the sky. The stars were just starting to sparkle into view. I stood quietly for a minute before clearing my throat, making my presence known. "Uh...hi."

He turned toward me and nodded. Out of his robe pocket he removed a large sky map. "Let's get to work." He seemed to want this over as quickly as possible. At least we were on the same page.

We worked for a few hours and in that time he was nice. At first he was his normal self but as each passing minute left us he became warmer to me. By the end he was rather sweet and actually listened to my ideas and thoughts without inserting too many rude comments. It was weird and I had no idea why he was acting this way to me but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"You know... When you're not trying to scare me away you're actually a decent person." I laughed as I plotted the next star. I knew saying this was pressing my luck. He'd probably just turn back into what he had been before.

"Yeah?" He sent me an actual smile as he lifted his head from where it was bent over a sky map.

Or not... "Yup." I smiled back.

"Yeah...well... don't get too use to it. My split personality may change at anytime."

"Okay you can't be mad at that! You really act that way!" I laughed.

"Well you act like a priss half the time. And I never know when you're going to fight with me."

"Sure... but mine just keeps it interesting, yours makes you crazy." I smirked at him.

"We're all a little crazy," Greyson rolled his eyes at me and went back to work. We were plotting a large constellation that was just coming into view this time of year.

* * *

The past few days working with Greyson had actually been enjoyable. It turns out that he was someone fun to have a real conversation with. He was a lot smarter than he let on and he just knew of so many topics, both wizard and muggle. One thing we never talked about was family. If I even mentioned something along the lines of "my parents" he would instantly go back into his shell. He must of had a really bad childhood. One time he did open up a little about that when he let it slip that his parents died when he was young and he was raised by a family member. My heart broke from him but I wouldn't let him know that. No one likes or wants pity. During classes he was almost back to his normal self, but to a lesser degree. He didn't down right avoid me any longer, but he wasn't going to come up and strike up a conversation. It was a slow progression but he started to emerge from where he had been closed in over himself, never allowing the comfort of another person in his life. During the times we worked on the project he was rather nice which was a very pleasant change from how he once was.

"You act a lot differently when it's just you and me." I said flippantly as I dusted my legs off from where I had been sitting on the floor of the tower.

"How so?" He looked got up as well, packing things away.

I just stared at him. "Seriously? Oh I don't know. Maybe like the fact that you're even talking to me."

"I talk to you in front of people." He defended himself.

"Not like a civilized person! You're always mean to me." I laughed.

He rolled those damn eyes again. "You're too soft. You take everything to heart. That'll kill you one day, Sophia. Or it will at least get you in a whole lot of trouble."

I shrugged at him. "Guess we'll have to see which one comes first."

"So how's the project been going. You know working with tall, dark, and crazy?" Audra giggled one night before bed.

"It's not really too bad. He's actually kind of nice." I shrugged, disturbing the sleeping cat that was on my chest. Willow lifted her head to look at me before falling back asleep.

"He's nice?" Lola sat up in bed to look at me.

I laughed. "Yeah I know it's really weird. He's like a totally different person."

"He doesn't seem any different," Lola turned to Audra. "I think our little Sophia has a crush."

"Well crush that crush! He's no good." Audra pushed her hand down onto her bed like she was squishing a bug.

"I don't have a crush." I stammered out.

"Oh no, she's hopeless." Audra flew her hands up.

"She's a goner!" Lola laughed.

"Stop it! I don't have a crush!" I yelled at them. I knew they were just joking but for some reason it was hitting a nerve.

Audra giggled. "Okay, okay. But if this guy does something we don't like... he'll be the goner!"

"Agreed!" Lola said seriously.

I rolled my eyes but smiled at them. "Trust me, he won't do anything." They were pretty overprotective.

"Well tonight's the last night you'll have to put up with me. " I said as I unrolled our almost finished project. We would be done with it tonight and hand it in tomorrow.

Greyson turned toward me from where he was at a telescope. "You know...you're not nearly as annoying as I thought you were. I hated this a lot less than I would have thought. " he shrugged.

"Uh... Thank you. I think." I murmured.

"You're welcome. " He winked at me.

"And maybe you're not as bad as I thought you were either." I shrugged walking over to where he was at the telescope so I could use it to look at our constellation.

"Well now… how bad did you think I was?" He moved behind to take the telescope back.

"Honestly?" I asked, I didn't want to offend him and have him go off on me again. This guy was like a ticking time bomb without a timer. You never knew when he would detonate.

"Yeah, lay it on me." He pushed me over toward the railing more, briefly looking up from the lens at me to speak.

I took a deep breath. Well here goes nothing. "I thought you were… annoying. "

He stood up straight to look at me. "And?" He cocked an eyebrow.

Who just asked to be insulted? But okay… "And I thought you were a little crazy."

"Oh just a little?" His eyes flared as he stalked slowly toward me. When he got closer he put an arm on either side of me, pinning me against the railing. "Go on." He tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy.

"That you thought you were too good for anyone else here, that's why you wouldn't talk." I murmured. He was way too close to comfort.

"Uh-huh. Well you see, I thought you were a bratty little girl who figured she could have any guy she wanted and that was the only reason she came over to talk to me. To prove that she could. Then I found you annoying that you were so persistent. Though I will admit I was a tad bit flattered." He cleared his throat. "But still I found you annoying and… bubbly." He smiled as he invaded my own bubble of personal space.

I rolled my eyes. "You're a git."

"Yeah, I know." He whispered as he leaned in to press his lips against mine. Did he really just do that?! And why was I allowing this for so long?

I froze. "What are you doing?!" I tried to back away but the only place to go from my spot in the tower was down.

"Shh." He whispered against my lips.

"You don't even like me!" I murmured back.

"I like kissing you." He kissed me again...and I allowed it. Well I guess that was good enough reason. And maybe just maybe I didn't hate it as much as I should have.

* * *

-Author's Note-

So how do you guys feel about Greyson? Is he really bad news or is that just an act? Hmmm... And if you haven't made up your mind about him that's okay, because neither has Sophia :p


	8. Kiss

And that's what started the whirlwind of things that followed. A simple kiss changed Sophia's future more than anyone could have imagined. A simple action that would spiral into something much more, changing her live forever.

Sophia and Greyson had stayed and finished their Astrology project. Though that was not the only thing they finished. They sat and talked about about what was to happen after that awkward first kiss. After some time they finally came to the conclusion that although they spent about seventy percent of the time fighting maybe, just maybe, they could work out as friends… or more like friends with benefits. They steered clear of words like "dating" or "couple" but it was burning in that backs of both of their minds.

* * *

He kissed me. He freaking bloody kissed me! And I let him! What just happened? I wish I could say that I hated it, that I was repulsed by the very idea. He was no good, bad news. No matter how sweet and charming he had been lately. There was still something dark and dangerous about him but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was my curiosity of that notion that fueled my attraction to him. When I first laid eyes on him he seemed so troubled and sad and I guess I have been just trying to help ever since.

But I couldn't say I hated it. I couldn't even say I disliked it. In fact if he leaned in again I would kiss him back without thinking twice about it. Kissing him was fun, it was perfect, and it definitely filled the void of something that had been missing. His soft lips were yielding but firm as he pressed them to mine. The feeling of his warm breath on my lips as he slowly swept his tongue against my bottom lip had been downright delicious. I knew that I couldn't just let this happen though. We needed to talk and sort things out. It would just be too difficult to go on without that.

"So… what do we do from here?" I asked awkwardly. This was the last night we were suppose to even communicate. Kissing him was the last thing that I had expected. Why did he do that? And why did I like it? Ugh, life just got way too complicated.

"From where?" Greyson asked me like nothing had just happened. How he could possibly keep his cool composer blew my mind. I felt like the inside of my head was going to explode with the multitudes of thoughts and feelings that were bouncing and rebounding against the walls of my skull, turning my brain into absolute mush.

I glared at him, narrowing my eyes. "You know exactly what I mean."

He looked as though the idea had never occurred to him before. "Oh, that kiss?" He saw me visibly flinch at the word. "You act like you hated it."

"I DID!" I yelled, lying. Why did I have to like it? I didn't even like him!

Greyson shrugged at me before turning back to the telescope, picking up exactly where he had left of before the kiss. "Liar." He muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" I asked for clarification. He did not just call me a liar.

He turned around to face me again. "I called you a bloody liar."

"I am not a liar!" I screeched. How the hell would he know if I enjoyed his stupid kiss.

He chuckled darkly. "Oh sweetheart, you are a terrible liar. But don't worry I liked it too." He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. "You're annoying." I almost called him a git again but the last time I did he kissed me!

He shrugged. "So you've said."

We worked in silence for a while. We were just finishing up the project when I spoke and broke the tension that was in clinging in the air like a wound up spring.. "What if, and I'm totally not saying I did… but what if I did enjoy the kiss. What would that mean?"

"That I'm a great kisser. Which is something I already knew." He smirked at me a very familiar smirk. Uh no, that smirk was my thing. The fact that he had it copied was weird and a little scary.

"Pffft, you're okay." I had to knock him down a peg, if his ego grew any larger his big head would burst out of the tower's walls.

Again he chuckled. "Sophia… you're new at this. How would you know?"

"I AM NOT!" I yelled. What an arse just assuming things. "I've been kissed before."

"Yeah but was it a real kiss?" He did that stupid smirk again. Ugh.

"Well…" I had been kissed. It was fourth year and it was the yule ball. The guy I went with I only went with because he was a friend of Audra's at the time boyfriend. I actually couldn't stand the guy. He was just so boring. Then at the end of the night he tried to kiss me, I ended up turning my head just in time to have him slobber all over the corner of my mouth and side of my face. Yup, some kiss.

"Exactly." He winked at me. "You flush too easily at a simple kiss to be someone who has kissed many. It's rather endearing truthfully." And right on cue that stupid blush appeared. "Anyway… I guess it would mean that you would want to do it again sometime in the future."

"I don't know." I murmured.

He came closer to me again, grabbing my hand. "Hey, I'm not looking for anything serious here. Trust me, I don't do serious. But if you were up for just this…I wouldn't mind it. As much as I hate to admit it I really actually enjoy spending time with you. You're fun to bicker with. " He shot me a genuine smile. "And it doesn't hurt that you're pretty and soft."

"Soft?" I just repeated the word that stuck out to me the most.

"Your skin. Your hair. Your lips. Soft." He shrugged.

I felt my face start to warm so I tilted my head down and away from his prying eyes. I bit my bottom lip too harshly to stop myself from breaking out in a wide smile. This was an unsuccessful attempt and I had to raise my hand to cover my lower half of my face. Though I am sure he could still see where the corners of my mouth were upturned. I could feel that too familiar warmth spread across my nose and over my cheeks. I gave up trying to hide it because I could tell by the smile on his face he already knew what he had accomplished. "Okay… what's with the sudden personality change?"

"This is my personality. I just don't show it. Actually you're little friends were right, I suppose I do have a split personality. I don't show this side often, mostly just the 'I hate everything and everyone' side of me."

"Huh?" Yeah that sounded really intelligent of me... but he just wasn't making sense.

"You don't know me Sophia. You think you do but you've only be allowed to see the facade I have put up. What I do in my private time is no concern to anyone." That last part he spoke at an almost inaudible whisper. I didn't think he even wanted me to hear it. " I'll do whatever I damn please. So this is me."

I was confused to say the least. "So you want to be friends?"

"Ehh, yeah. If that's what you want to call it." He nodded.

"With some perks here or there." I couldn't help myself, I smirked.

He laughed. "Here or there."

"Nothing serious?" I cocked an eyebrow. Did I want serious? No, I don't think so. Not with him.

"Nope. We _can't _be serious. We can go on living the same way as we have been. But instead of coming here to work on astrology and pretend to hate each other we can just hang out and drop the façade." He suggested.

Why was I even entertaining the idea? Basically this guy comes into Hogwarts, refuses to talk to me, then calls me name and tells me how he doesn't like me all the time, avoids me like the plague, kisses me, and then wants to be friends…with benefits. All the while apparently pretending to be something he's not? Bad idea Sophia, bad idea. This could only lead to disaster. So why was I finding myself saying "Okay"?

"Okay?" He smiled at me.

"Yes, we can be friends. Sometimes. While we're here. I'm not telling Audra and Lola. They'd flip." They would be so angry with me. We tell each other everything so me not telling them this would be so weird. How could I hide something this big?

"They don't like me very much do they?" He looked up at me innocently like there would never be any reason for anyone to hate him. If only that was the case.

It was my turn to chuckle. "No, no they do not."

"I guess it's a good thing we're not telling them then, huh?" He smiled at me. Greyson didn't smile often, it was a rare gift that he bestowed onto someone. Yes, he smirked or gave a cocky smile but seeing him smile a real smile was infrequent. But when he did you knew it. It always felt like it was a smile that only you could make him do, like you were the only reason for the smile to even exist. This was why Greyson was so dangerous, he knew all the right things to do and say. I'm sure he would be the perfect con-man. His low rumbling voice and that clever smirk that plays on his soft pink lips could charm a snake. Though at first he came off as a threat I could see why it was so easy for me to fall for this. He just oozed a sense of security, like he'd go to the ends of the earth to protective you. The problem with that is that I wasn't sure if I needed protecting against anything…other than maybe him.

"I guess so." I replied in a short, soft manner. I was still so unsure. This seemed so weird to me.

"Stop worrying, It'll be okay. Just trust me." He opened his arms to me.

I knew I wouldn't stop worrying, it was just part of my nature… but did I trust him? I still wasn't sure. 

* * *

Greyson watched intently as she chewed on that bottom lip of hers. It was a bad habit that he had noticed she had. She had mentioned that her mother was someone who worried a lot, about everything, and he could see that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. He was delighted in the way she stepped into his open arms when he extended them to her. He had the need to put her distressed mind at ease. Though she did take her time deciding if walking into his arms was the right thing to do. He knew she was at unease but he longed to wrap his arms around her for longer than he would like to admit. Sophia was the first person he had noticed when he arrived to Hogwarts. She would never know what had actually been going through his mind that first day… but that was a whole other story.

* * *

-Author's Note-

This isnt my favorite chapter... BUT the next chapter is. And it's all about the person you've all been asking about ;)


	9. Greyson

He had been standing outside of the dining hall while the headmistress gave her long winded speech, waiting for a good time to make his entrance. Though he sincerely did try to pay attention to the speech his eyes kept falling on the blonde, some what messy haired girl that's very presence seemed to light up the whole room.

"Don't even think about it," A whisper of a dark voice murmured. "You're not here for that kind of thing, that's not your job." Greyson didn't need to stop watching the beautiful girl to know who was behind him, breathing down his neck.

He let out a low sigh, "I know my duties here, Lorelei. " He turned to face his cousin. She was dressed in her usual attire; black. She wore black jeans that stuck close to her skin, a black tight fitted leather jacket over a dark grey tank top, black studded combat boots, and black glovelettes. Her auburn hair hung loose and wavy though she often tied it back while "working". Her heavy eye makeup gave her a permanent mischievous look. A look that matched her personality to a tee.

"I hope so… for your sake." The young girl spoke solemnly. Her eyes seemed bigger due to the smudged black eyeliner that she wore. Lorelei Chet was only two years older than Greyson but was trusted with a lot more than he ever would be. Lorelei was perfect for this business. It was in her blood and even if it hadn't of been she would have made it so. She was destined for this. She stood studying Greyson as he took in the view that was ahead of him in the dinning hall.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Greyson muttered, though he wasn't so sure of that fact himself. Again he looked back towards the girl. He yearned to be closer, close enough where he could learn all the finer details of her features.

"You're just lucky that I didn't breech the security here," The girl sighed. "I shouldn't have come in with you, but I wanted to make sure that even _you_ couldn't mess this up." There is was. Lorelei and he were close and they did get along, but she hated that he got this mission over her. She truly would have been perfect for it, he didn't even want it. But she always put in little side comments, little comments that dug deep into his brain and would resurface every time he started to feel even a little better about himself.

Greyson rolled his darkened eyes. He decided that it would just be best to ignore her comment. "You're too good, I haven't seen you fail passing a security system yet." Lorelei was good, the best he's ever seen. That's why she was still around, she was useful. Not ideal, but useful. "Anyway with all the new comers here today it's much easier to slip in and out."

"That may be true, but I will need you to meet me back here to escort me off the perimeter. It won't look as suspicious if someone was to see me." Her brown eyes flashed upward over his shoulder. "The speech is over, you better get in there. Give it ten minutes and then come back out. You need to be seen in there, make up an excuse as to why your leaving dinner early."

"Got it. See you on the other side." Greyson muttered as he locked his eyes back onto the girl he had been staring at. Another small glance over his shoulder proved his thought that Lorelei would no longer be there. He was on his own. A deep breath made its way into his lungs and he snuck into the gargantuan room. Another quick glance towards the blonde girl before he snapped his eyes to look elsewhere. He could feel her gaze as she turned to look at him. Had she felt his own stare? "Don't look at her, don't look at her" was racing through his mind as he tried to keep his eyes from automatically going towards the most delightful sight they had ever seen.

She was gorgeous, a light that emanated through the darkness that was his world. He has been around beautiful people all his life, his family had flawless genes. But no matter how good looking anyone he had ever seen before had been, they hadn't looked like her. She was so pure looking, innocent. There was no permanent anger or despair that corrupted or clouded her blue eyes. He had been watching her speak. Watching the way her lips parted and closed as she rattled on to her two friends that sat near her. Watched as she would break out into a huge smile that curved beautifully across her face, as she threw her head back laughing at something the girl with the bright red hair had said. On more than one occasion while watching her before he had noticed the girl with black hair look in his direction. He knew that there was no possible way that she could be seeing him but it still threw him off a bit. The girl didn't notice her friend looking his way. She continued on saying whatever words she had been. What would her voice sound like? Her pale skin tone was almost luminous. A hint of color spread across her face as she giggled over something.

"And here I am looking like something the cat dragged in. I at least could have shaved." He mentally kicked himself.

Greyson was new but he had already had his little meeting with the sorting hat. This was the main reason he was late to the speach. He had been given the basic instructions that were given to a first year. He knew the headmisstress expected him to be back into the dining hall before the speech started but he would just tell her he got lost. It wouldn't be unlikely in this huge castle. The hat was barely touching his head when it shouted out "SLYTHERIN". There was no doubt in which house he should be in. It was easy to identify the table he was suppose to be at. It was overpowering to look at with the way it was dressed in silver and green. What made it better was the fact that it was _her_ table.

He sat down and started to grab toward food, more here than what he had ever been use to. And that's when reality started to kick in. He was here, alone. He didn't fit in and it was easy to say wasn't exactly welcomed completely. He felt so out of place. The feeling of dozens of eyes on him as he sat and made a volcano out of mashed potatoes and gravy, something he did as a kid a lot when his parents were still alive. Though the only set of eyes he really focused on was the girl that was already burned into his brain. All of a sudden out of his peripheral vision he saw movement. She was getting up and walking his way. He almost smiled as she sat down in front of him. But that smiled was wiped off his strong face quickly.

A perky voice sounded from where the essence of beauty sat across from him. "Hi, I'm Sophia Malfoy!" And with a dazzling smile and a flutter of her thick lashes she broke his heart. She was a_ Malfoy_.

"_Of course I had to instantly fall for one of the two girls here I couldn't have anything to do with. I was told specifically to stay away from anyone with the last name of Malfoy or Potter,"_ He screamed in his head. At least he knew he wouldn't be attracted to the Potter girl. After doing some research he knew that she was far too young for him to even encounter. Greyson took another deep breath to steady himself and smashed the volcano he was making. Damn it all!

"I said 'Hi, I'm Sophia Malfoy'," she repeated the words that had shoved a dagger through his heart the first time. The second cut it made was just as painful. Instead of looking up at her Greyson tried to hide the fact that his brain was freaking out by not looking up at the girl. He couldn't bear to sit there. Finally he raised his head to look at her. Yup, she still looked perfect. This was the worst kind of torture. Knowing that something you wanted badly was something you could never attain. He didn't even want to take this stupid mission. He needed to escape. It hadn't been quite ten minutes yet but he figured that he had definitely been seen so it was okay for him to take off. He sighed in annoyance at the shit for luck he had. He pushed his plate away from him with a great force, his appetite was completely gone anyway.

He got up and walked back out of the door. He heard her yell after him "Rude!" but he didn't slow or turn back. He needed to get out of there quickly. How stupid he was. He would just fail at this too, like he always did. This was a big mission and he couldn't afford to make grave mistakes. Ones such as falling for a Malfoy. He knew who the Malfoys were. Well…he knew about their past. He didn't know of anything concerning the current Malfoys. He was aware that they were different from how the old ones were, but grudges lasted forever in his family. He had been warned not to screw around, not to make any mistakes.

_"Girls are a distraction." Lorelei had said before shipping him off. "So don't let your male hormones control you."_

_His uncle had chuckled at her. She always acted like she was second in command but he always put her back in her place. She was his daughter, but he would remove her from his dealings if she got in the way. "Now Lorelei, don't be too hard on the boy. If he wants to blow off some steam on some poor girl…that's up to him. As long as it isn't a distraction for too long." _

_"Father… we can't afford for him to make any mistakes. The stakes are too high." She spoke softly. _

_He let out a huff of air in reply. "I am well aware of this. After all it is my business. But let's give him some credit. He wouldn't do anything that would jeopardized this. He knows what's at stake. "_

_"I know. I will not fail you." Greyson had spoken stiffly. He couldn't fail. Not this time._

"Grey! There you are." Lorelei called in a harsh whispered tone. She signaled for him to come meet her behind the shrubbery she was currently lurking behind. When he made his way there she looked around before locking arms with him and walking at a quickened pace towards the forest. "So how did it go?"

"Everyone looked at me like I was a three headed Basilisk slithering across the room ready to devour the innocent." Greyson rolled his eyes. "No big deal."

"Rather have them ignore you than to get close and discover who you are." Lorelei shrugged as they neared the edge of the forest. When they stepped into the shadows they both breathed a sigh of relief. "Listen… I know I bust on you all the time but I do care. I hope that everything goes as planned because it would rip my heart out to lose you."

Greyson shrugged in response. He didn't do this mushy feelings shit. That just wasn't him, that part had died long ago. Anyway it wouldn't be him that they lost, not really.

"Always the expressive one." His cousin attempted a half smile before reaching into her brown leather backpack. "Here, take this." She handed him a shard of mirrored glass.

He cautiously took the piece of shattered glass. "What is this for?" He questioned. What an odd parting gift.

"It's a two way mirror. Well it's part of one, it was smashed a while back by yours truly. Anyway I have the other you ever need me just say my name into your piece and I will hopefully be around to answer." She smiled at him.

Greyson studied the piece that he held in his hand. It was something nice to have but he doubted he would ever use it. He didn't want to be seen as weak, didn't want her to think he always needed her help. "Thanks." He replied gruffly.

Lorelei sighed, knowing that was the best she was going to get out of him. Out of the same bag she pulled out an object wrapped in cloth. She removed part of the cloth to show the object's identity, an old chipped tea cup. This was her portkey back to home. "Good luck." She nodded in his direction as she placed the cup against her skin. And then she was gone.

And he was alone.


End file.
